As Nicolle Davies sat at the Denver Public Library Central’s branch, she’s surrounded by more multimedia — like a giant chess board, classic records, even video games — than she is books.

Denver’s new city librarian finds as much value in those mediums as there is in the written word.

“I’m not cutting edge or bleeding edge,” she told Colorado Matters.

And while she herself doesn’t pick up a controller, “I’ve got some gamers in my household. I just think it teaches a lot of life skills that people don’t really give gaming credit for.”

Davies sat down with us and Colorado Matters senior host Ryan Warner just over a month into her new job to discuss literacy among Denverites, how her department will navigate the city’s budget crunch and the role of libraries in democracy.

The library sys

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